How to Buy Burial Insurance after a Pulmonary Embolism

How to buy Burial Insurance after a pulmonary embolism.

There is nothing simple about a pulmonary embolism. The event happens when a blood clot creates a blockage of a major blood vessel in the lung.

Easy Article Navigation

• Symptoms of a Pulmonary Embolism
• The Risk of a Pulmonary Embolism
• How to buy Burial Insurance after a Pulmonary Embolism?
• What if I don’t Qualify?
• The Bottom Line

Typically the clot or clots are small and rarely deadly, but in cases when the clot is large enough to stop the flow of blood to the lung, it can become a deadly episode.

Getting treatment quickly can result in a saved life and a reduction of future problems. And finding affordable life insurance that covers pre-existing conditions should be a priority if you’re not already properly insured.

Symptoms of a Pulmonary Embolism

There are various symptoms that are common to a pulmonary embolism:

• Shortness of breath
• Very sharp chest pain that becomes worse when you cough or breathe deeply
• Coughing that brings up a pink and foamy mucus
• Feeling anxious and profuse sweating
• Feeling lightheaded or faint
• Increased heart rate or palpitations

The Risk of Pulmonary Embolism

Anytime you are likely to form blood clots you are at risk of pulmonary embolism:

• Inactivity for long periods, typically after surgery or a serious illness that requires you to sit for a long time.
• Surgery that involves the legs, hips, your belly, or your brain
• Diseases such as cancer, stroke, heart failure, or severe infection
• Pregnancy and childbirth
• Birth control pills and hormonal therapy
• Smoking cigarettes or cigars

Although pulmonary embolism is a very serious condition, the majority of affected patients will survive if treated promptly.

How to buy Burial Insurance when I’ve had a Pulmonary Embolism?

In September of 2008, the Surgeon General released a report estimating that 350,000 to 600,000 Americans experience a pulmonary embolism each year with about 100,000 of them dying as a result.

Since then there have been major advertising campaigns about Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), the primary cause of pulmonary embolism.

There is, however, a group of insurers who specialize in high-risk cases and will offer level benefit burial insurance at affordable rates to applicants who have experienced an event of pulmonary embolism.

Connecting with an experienced and reputable independent insurance agent can substantially increase your ability to get normalized rates after a complete underwriting process.

Your independent agent is able to prepare you in advance for the underwriting requirements that result when you reveal your episode to the insurer.

Since insurers are concerned about pulmonary embolism and how it may have been caused, the underwriter will want to know about your medical history and any lifestyle changes you’ve made since your episode. You should expect the following questions from your underwriter:

• Overall Health: The underwriter will ask questions about the state of your overall health and inquire about any other conditions aside from your pulmonary embolism.
• Lifestyle: Your lifestyle plays a major part in the risk of pulmonary embolism, and your underwriter will be concerned if you’ve made changes to reduce your risk of DVT. Proper diet, exercise, and refraining from smoking are the first steps that should be taken after an event.
• Date of Your Event: When did your pulmonary embolism occur and how much time has passed since you were treated?
• Cause: The underwriter will inquire what caused your pulmonary embolism, such as a sedentary lifestyle, recent surgeries, or DVT.
• Treatment: What treatments did you receive and were you hospitalized as a result.
• Follow Up: Have you made the prescribed follow-up visits to your doctor and are you taking your prescribed medications?

Other Underwriting Requirements

Along with your insurance application and supplemental questionnaire, your underwriter will order a report from the Medical Information Bureau, a report from a national Prescription Drug database, and in some cases, a motor vehicle report going back 3 to 5 years.

The good news is companies that offer Final Expense and Burial Insurance, typically never require a medical exam or blood/urine tests.

Common Underwriting Results

The even better news is that many insurance applicants who have experienced a pulmonary embolism have a very good chance of qualifying for affordable insurance with no waiting period requirement.

Most who have experienced a single episode will likely be awarded a standard rating as long as the condition was resolved without medication and occurred several years before the application.

For those applicants who had their pulmonary embolism treated with medication and are continuing to take medication for the prevention of future blood clots, it is likely they will be rated sub-standard but still qualify for level benefit life insurance coverage.

In cases where the applicant does not qualify for traditional life insurance because of other underlying health issues, there are still alternatives for getting life insurance in place.

What if I Don’t Qualify?

When you take advantage of the services offered by an experienced and reputable independent agent, there will typically be options available if you don’t qualify for traditional life insurance. Knowing how to buy burial insurance is critical when you’re challenged with various health issues.

Most independent agents represent multiple companies that offer no exam guaranteed issue life insurance. These products are designed to offer coverage without regard to your health issues.

The insurance application typically has no health questions and policies can be issued much quicker than traditional insurance. There are, however, certain caveats that you will need to accept in order to purchase this type of policy.

1. The typical maximum death benefit is $25,000
2. There is a two to three-year waiting period when the company will not pay the full death benefit if your death is from natural causes. Most companies will pay, however, a death benefit equal to the premiums you paid in plus a small additional percentage of 5 to 10 percent.
3. Since there is no medical underwriting requirement, the insurer is accepting an unknown risk, and will, therefore, require a much higher premium for coverage.

Even though these guaranteed issue policies are subject to the conditions listed above, they are Whole Life Insurance policies and therefore guaranteed to remain in force for a lifetime as long as you pay the periodic premium.

Moreover, the required premiums cannot change because of your age or health issues, and the policy builds cash value over time which can be accessed through policy loans.

The Bottom Line

Although pre-existing conditions like pulmonary embolism can make life insurance shopping challenging, if you’ll take advantage of an independent agent like MyBurialInsurancePLan that specializes in the senior market, they will show you how to buy burial insurance with pre-existing conditions.